The high school football team was back on the road last Friday night for its final league contest of the season, paying a visit to Centralia for the 83rd matchup between the two schools in a series that dates back 99 years to the 1921 season. With four starters not playing due to injury and illness, the Buffaloes were in for an uphill battle when they got on the bus to head north. And although they did some good things throughout the game, it wouldn’t be enough to pull off the upset of the Panthers.
The game opened up with a long drive by Onaga, but it would stall in the Centralia redzone before they turned it over on downs. The Panthers would then march 87 yards in 10 plays to put the first points on the board and wouldn’t look back.
With an 8-0 lead heading into the second quarter, the Onaga offense kept moving the ball. But a blocked punt, a fumbled kickoff return, and a second turnover-on-downs inside the Panther redzone kept them off the scoreboard. Meanwhile, the Centralia offense kept capitalizing. They would score on the next play after the punt block and the fumble, and would put together another long drive after the turnover-on-downs to take a 28-0 lead into halftime.
Centralia would get the ball first after halftime and score their fifth touchdown of the night, a pass from senior quarterback Jacob Flentie who would end the night two rushing scores and that one through the air. He would then drive the Panthers to another scoring drive that began in the third quarter and ended in the fourth on a Henry Heideman touchdown run, his third of the night.
Up 42-0 in the fourth quarter, Centralia kept their starting defense in the game. This was a stark contrast to the junior high game the night before between the two schools that saw Onaga take a 42-0 lead on Centralia just 10 minutes into the game. At that point, just 2 minutes into the second quarter, the Buffaloes began pulling starters as a show of sportsmanship to their rival up the road. But in the high school game, with the scoreboard flipped and the Panther starting defense still on the field, Onaga was determined to not allow the game to finish in a shutout. To open their only fourth quarter offensive drive, junior Josh Daniels ran 29 yards, his longest of the night. Junior fullback Gavin Kolterman then ran for 6 before senior quarterback took it to the house from 39 yards out. The two-point conversion failed, making the score 42-6. That would be the final score, dropping the Buffaloes’ record to 1-2 on the season both overall and in league play.
Jackson Kolterman ran for 120 yards on the night to improve his season total to 287, which puts him in the top 25 in 1A according to MaxPreps. Right behind him is Daniels with 241 yards on the ground this season. The two backs have combined for 9 of the team’s 10 touchdowns this season and are both averaging over 7 yards per carry, despite a rotation of players along the line throughout the first three games thanks to injuries and illness. Defensively, sophomore Xavier Berges had a team-leading 13 tackles against Centralia, including 9 of the solo variety. He is now second on the team in tackles behind senior Wyatt Boggs who has 25. Those players, and others, will be leaned on as the team moves on from league foes to district play in week four.
Onaga is the only TVL school in District #3 this year, a rare occurrence that sets the Buffaloes up with a great chance at finishing at or near the top. All of their five district opponents belong to the Northeast Kansas League and make up the remaining games on Onaga’s schedule. That will begin this Friday when the Buffaloes host Valley Falls for homecoming. The Dragons enter the game 0-3 on the season and have been outscored 109-22 in those games, Onaga owns a 15-3 advantage in the all-time series, and have won 7 of the last 8 games between the two schools. With the annual Farmers State Bank tailgate beginning at 5:30pm that night, the crowning of the King and Queen at 6:15pm, and the postseason implications that the game will have, it should be a great night for football at the Rosenfield Sports Complex. Kickoff is set for 7:00pm.
For a look at the stats from this season, highlights, season totals, and everything else Onaga football related, head over to the district website (usd322.org) and go to the team’s page under the “Athletics” tab.